The AI chatbot race is heating up, and Google is preparing to take the lead by giving Gemini a new level of understanding. Gemini will not only remember previous conversations with a user but will also learn from their activity across other Google applications such as Gmail, Google Calendar, and YouTube. This was confirmed by Josh Woodward, president of Google Labs and Gemini.
In April, OpenAI had already made a significant move by expanding ChatGPT’s memory capabilities. This allows ChatGPT to access past correspondence with users and use it to personalize future responses. According to OpenAI, this results in interactions that are more aligned with a user’s preferences, habits, and interests, providing a more useful and comfortable experience.
Google, however, is not stopping there. The company plans to go further by granting Gemini access to the history of a user’s past chats with AI. Following that, Google will roll out a new feature called “personalized context” (or pcontext), which is currently being tested internally. This feature is intended to pull relevant information from a user’s Google account. Services such as Gmail, Google Photos, Google Calendar, Google Search, and YouTube are all expected to be part of the data Gemini can draw from.
The aim is to make Gemini more proactive in helping users, although the specifics of what this means haven’t yet been disclosed. It’s possible the assistant might make timely suggestions based on a person’s inbox, calendar events, or search history. This kind of contextual awareness could allow for smoother, more anticipatory assistance.
Balancing Personalization with Privacy
While the integration promises convenience, it inevitably raises concerns about data privacy, notes NIX Solutions. Google already holds vast amounts of user data, and now it plans to connect that data directly to its AI system. This step has prompted understandable concern about how that information will be used and protected.
In response, Google has stated that it will request explicit user consent before allowing Gemini to access personal data. According to Woodward, the intention is to make Gemini more “personal, proactive, and powerful.” He also indicated that further updates are on the horizon, and we’ll keep you updated as more integrations become available.